The Terran Enclave

The Terran Enclave is a major player in the port side communities. While not the only terran community it is the largest.  It's mainly Terran population trace their lineage back to the original marines who stormed the worldship in the war a thousand years ago. While some interbreeding has occurred with local humans the thing that differentiates these people from other humans outside their linage is access to stable power generators and advanced education and training.

The Enclave itself is a small duchy or large country in terms of size. It controls 53 six mile hexes around the port thruster control generators. With a population density of 300 per hex that gives it a total population of 15,900 families. It is highly centralised in terms of urbanisation with around 30% of families in urban environments, for a total of 4,770 (two shifts down on the table and rounding to a clean number). It is ruled by Starlord Tamara, a 10th level Terran Cosmonaut (only required to be level 9 but increased to 10 as they are militaristic).

Unknown, but suspected, by various other communities is that their colonies bridge into the radiation zones and beyond. These communities utilise environment suits and salvaged hi-tech materials to establish mining operations outside the ship. This also gives them access to secret entrances to other areas through external access. The south east community is known as the Viraj District, it mines lava vents that still erupt at select points around the base of the ship as well as the rich churned up earth from the impact. This is how the colony harvests it various rare earth metals and raw iron that is not available in an unprocessed for onboard. These access points and colonies are visible from the outside and could be used as access points for explorers from distant realms.

Port Beatrix

Believed to be named after one of the founders of the settlement, it's also likely the name somehow relates to the original beta strike force attack on the port side power matrix. This settlement forms the hub of the Terran Enclaves territory. Using the standard 20% in the capital city ratio, this give 954 families living in its capital of Port Beatrix making it a large town. As a large town it counts as a Class IV market and does significant trade with the port hanger human communities.

The town itself is situated in a habitation cylinder. This four mile diameter open cylinder is surrounded by habitation chambers and facilities that open up into the central atrium over six miles high. Over time various ramps, bridges and elevators have been built obscuring the views from the upper levels. As such the lower levels are more prestigious as they are closer to the greenery of the central open parklands and mansions of the elites.

Ericks refitters: this shop is famed throughout the port side community for selling new and refurbished Terran and alien weaponry in addition to other conveniences. It is run by Erick III, an aging man who runs the shop with his extended family and eight children. They also sell more primitive armor and weapons, such as crossbows and chain mail. Refurbished Terran pistols and ammunition are available for sale here for 200gp and 20gp for a clip of 10 bullets. Special carbine type weaponry has also been known to be available from time to time. Alien Silkweave armor refitted to your convenience is also available for 500gp.

Starlord Tamara

Tamara traces her lineage back to one of the original Terran commanders from the battles over a thousand years ago. Her armor is a battered but functional armored marine suit that was worn by her ancestor and inherited through the female lineage of her line. Young for a commander she has fought in many battles seeking to push back the visitor hold on the core and the various scavenger armies forever seeking their stable power generators. Like most of her family line her focus is on holding on to their territory and way of life. This comes with a strong focus on community and education, as her Babushka used to say, "without education they are no different to the primitives of this world".

Starlord Tamara Smirnov: Cosmonaut 10; Str 11, Int 17 (+2), Wis 11, Dex 16 (+2), Con 13 (+1), Cha 10; MV 90', AC 11 (Armored flight suit AC 7, Ring of protection +2), HD 10, hp 52, Initiative: +3, #AT 4+, Melee - short sword +1 (AT 3+, 1d6+5), Ranged - Terran pistol +2 (AT -2+, -5 armor piercing, range increment 60', 3 clips with 10 rounds of +1 bullets, 1d8+5), Save F10; Proficiencies: Combat Reflexes, Command, Diplomacy, Fighting Style (missile weapon), Leadership, Military Strategy, Precise Shooting; Leadership Ability 5, Strategic Ability +3, Morale Modifier +2; Equipment: Terran jumpsuit (armor undersuit), 2x potion of healing, 3x plasma grenade, visor of sight.

Terran bloodline

Given they can freely interbreed with local humans there exists "half-terrans" in this setting, similar to half-elves in other settings. Human classes may take the Alien-Lore proficiency at first level as their general proficiency selection provided they have an intelligence of 10 or higher. These characters display the keen intellect of their Terran parent but often lack the critical training or upbringing to go with it. This rule can also be used to represent Terrans who have drifted from the main communities and survive on the edge in scavenger communities.

(EDIT: fixed urban population and Port Beatrix families)

The World Ship

When I originally created the world map I crash landed an alien ship on the north pole. I was just thinking, it's like the big ID4 mother ship crashed on the planet. Then I looked up its dimensions and started playing with maps... Its big, about four times a Death Star big.

What follows are some of my scratch notes and half formed ideas for this location. It started as prep in case my players went there, but now I'm wondering what a full campaign would look like using it as the setting. Beware what follows is more sword and planet and is massively inspired by Barbarian Conquerors of Kanahu.

Dimensions of the world ship

First lets look at is length and width (converting all to miles and hexes), it's 370 miles long and 298 miles wide. That's about fifteen 24 mile hexes or four of my 96 mile hexes, given I gave it 1-3 96 mile hexes on the original map I need to shrink mine a little. I'm happy to go about 240 miles long and wide.

The first problem I'm going to have is the height though, at 233 miles I have a big problem... Some reference points, mount Everest is 5.5 miles high. The upper atmosphere is 20-30 miles up (edge of stratosphere). So, first, lets shave those pylons off, taking it down to around 70 miles, still too much. Lets dig it in a little, it crashed so will have dug in a decent distance. So the crust is 30 miles deep for continental crust.

So, lets make it 54 miles in height without the pylons, nine 6 mile hexes (The pylons would be lying somewhere along its crash path. Its dug in 18 miles down, but the lowest deck was shaved off in the crash making it only 12 miles deep. This ship would have had a third dorsal pylon, but it and the top deck were shaved off in the war against the gods. So above ground it goes up 24 miles, to the upper stratosphere.

Settling in at 240 long, 240 wide and 54 miles high this impact should have destroyed this planet's surface on impact. Only sorcery explains why all life was not destroyed. If there were clouds, this more than pierces them, its four times bigger that Everest, mountains formed at its base are dwarfed by it. Not that you could view them from the ground outside as the area outside the broken hull is bathed in radiation.

Mapping the world ship

So maps, first, I'm thinking it's like a manta ray, so going with that shape. In the campaign 24 miles hexes it would look like this (larger hexes are 96 miles):

All the grey hexes are ship, the outer crust is broken and burned and exposed to radiation, but the inner sections are still habitable. Zooming into 6 mile hexes my template map was too small, but I got all the inner zones (larger hexes are 24 miles).

For the 6 mile hexes I put in some marking points of interest. Now that I have mapped it out it makes me think... you could run a whole campaign in this thing! There is enough room and height here for several empires and factions to exist. If I limited each "deck" to a mile I have about 42 maps, maybe 7 by six mile decks would be easier. Decks above and below this would be cross sectionally smaller the more they move from the ground level deck shown here.

Ideas and factions on the world ship

But what is it, this ship that is? It is a harvester, but not a planet harvester, a god harvester. It travels between worlds to eat gods, siphoning up their divine energy. Inside its core it would digest gods (is there one still there half eaten? Is it even a god from this world? What if it was released?). The visitors would do this to harvest the energy they need to power their technology. After all what do you think those energy crystals are made of that you fire your plasma pistol with...

It would have reality shields, anti-magic zones to protect the ship from godly powers and sorcery. This is why a physical assault would have been staged. These machines would be in various states of operation making magic onboard spotty.

It would have gardens, zoos and water reserves as big as oceans. There would be creatures harvested from across the galaxy for experiments (many new and exotic monsters). Maybe it would also have bugmen stowaways who learned a long time ago how to avoid visitor observation.

Their would be factions onboard, a core visitor faction would still control the central core and power systems. They can't repair or recharge the ship but would be sitting on the biggest power crystal cache on the planet.

Human survivors of "creator" military units that stormed the vessel would be present in the ship, most likely the hangers. Human and Visitor Hybrid scavengers would inhabit many of the outer hull segments, salvaging and building technology for sale.

If their are Endjinn onboard they would also be remnants from the god war. The question is are Iron Giants or Steel Artificers still alive or present here? To the rest of the Endjinn communities on this planet these molds no longer exist, but the last remnants were a part of the forces that attacked with the gods and the creators. (My players found an Iron Giant in stasis and it joined the group as a henchman, but they think Rex is the last of his kind, what if he isn't?)

Elves and dwarves no longer exist on this world, both are said to have departed. But elves were involved in the attack, if there were survivors they could be here.

Their may be other visitor factions, slave casts and lesser casts. I wonder why they wouldn't group up with the others?

What next

This one is a slow cook, I think like any campaign map I need to add places of interest. Map out factions and monsters etc. But it certainly did spark my imagination.

Gnomish Warden

Art by Leroy van Vliet

Ok, following up from the Soldat, the Gnomish Warden is another fighter themed class. This one has proven surprisingly popular in both one shots and my ongoing game. Its really a bit of a mish-mash of functions, at its core its a fighter-sorcerer hybrid. 

This is also the last of my gnome builds, the other two being the player companions gnomish trickster and my previous gnomish artisan.

In building it I wanted to have a spell they could cast off the bat, similar to the trickster and later the artisan. Initially I was thinking of a combat spell, but then I settled on a utility spell. It was too obvious to go something that could do damage, and in choosing dispel magic to counter magic they gain a relatively powerful once per day effect that synergises well with the overall build. In play I have found players (I have had three play this) tend to hold in in reserve as an ace up their sleave, so it hasn't been game breaking in any way.

I also give then the reskinned goblin slayer proficiency, but I cap it at 12th level instead of 13th as all gnomes are built to have a final level of 12. This ability has also been customised to my setting and would need changing back or customising in other settings. Other than that the quarter caster abilities are more for flavour. Also, as a reminder, I am using my craft gnome racial modification here, not the base book version.

GNOMISH WARDEN

Prime Requisite: DEX and CON
Requirements: CON 9, INT 9
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum Level: 12

Gnomes are not a warlike people and tend to be characterised more for their humour, inquisitiveness and inventiveness rather than for their skills in combat. Nevertheless they are a people besieged by goblin-kind and all gnomes must share the burden of defending their burgs. Those who do not pursue the arts of the tricksters or artificers pursue the path of the wardens, who directly contribute to responsibilities associated with managing and guarding their communities.

Some gnomish wardens leave the safety of their fortified towns, known as burgs, to travel and experience the world. These rare explorers tend to be driven by gnomish inquisitiveness, they take with them the gnomish love for humour and craft along with expertise in combat honed from years defending their homes.

Gnomish wardens train hard and hone their skills in the defence of family and friend, this makes them cunning and capable combatants. At first level, gnomish wardens hit an unarmored foe (AC 0) with an attack throw of 10+. They advance in attack throws and saving throws as fighters, by two points every three levels of experience. They increase their base damage roll from successful missile and melee attacks by +1 at 1st level, and by an additional +1 at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th level. Due to their short stature, gnomish wardens can never use two-handed weapons, such as two-handed swords, pole arms, or longbows. The warden can wield a broad selection of weapons, including the arbalest, crossbow, dagger, hand axe, mace, short bow, short sword, spear, sword and war hammer. They are trained to fight wielding a weapon and shield, wielding a weapon two-handed and wielding a weapon in each hand. Wardens may only wear chain mail or lighter armor.

The character has defended their home tirelessly from the constant attacks of their enemies and has developed combat tricks to strike down humanoid foes. They receive +1 on attack throws against kobolds, morlocks, troglodytes, gnolls, bugbears, ogres, minotaurs, and genies of all types. At level 8, this bonus increases to +2, and at level 12 it increases to +3.

All craft gnomes begin play as a apprentice in a particular type of craft, such as armor-making, clock-making, jewelling, weapon-smithing, etc. With access to craftsman’s tools, the character can produce 10gp worth of items per month, or they can work for journeymen crafters to increase their production. When examining works of their craft, the gnome can identify masterwork items, rare materials, and famous artisans with a proficiency throw of 10+ on 1d20. Their attention to detail gives gnomes a +1 bonus on proficiency rolls for other proficiencies they learn as well in addition to thief skills if they have them (already factored into craft skill and nose for potions).

Gnomes are short in stature weighing 65 pounds on average, less than half a human. They can only carry 4 stone without becoming encumbered. When carrying 5-6 stone, their encounter movement rate is reduced to 90’. When carrying 7-8 stone, their encounter movement rate is reduced to 60’. When carrying 9 stone or more, their encounter movement rate is reduced to 30’. A gnome can carry a maximum of 16 stone, modified by its Strength bonus or penalty.

Like all gnomes they learn some innate magic, but living in a community that relishes illusion and prank, in addition to hostile monsters that can wield magic, leads wardens to learn to dispel magical effects in addition to the basic spells they learn. Once per hour, gnomish wardens can cast chameleon and faerie fire. Once per day, they can cast dispel magic. Each of these spells takes one round to cast, and otherwise functions like a normal spell cast by a mage of his class level.

A lifetime of exposure to trickery and magic leaves gnomish wardens resistant to illusions made by others. They receive a +4 bonus on saving throws to disbelieve magical illusions.

As they advance, gnomish wardens progress into casting arcane spells, although this is only really dabbling at best. Starting at 2nd level (Gnomish Guard), they will learn and cast spells as mages of one-third the power of a full caster using the same spell list and the same rules for learning and casting spells. The number and level of spells the warden can use in a single day are listed on the warden spell progression table as is the caster level they use in casting their spells at each level (Using rules from Axioms 7, convert back to a ⅓ arcane caster in other games). Unlike (human) mages, gnomish wardens can also cast spells while wearing armor. They can use any magical items permitted to fighters.

Like other gnomes the gnomish wardens have a nose for potions. They may make a proficiency throw of 10+ to determine the magical properties of a potion or oil on taste. Starting at 5th level (Gnomish Guardian) gnomish wardens may brew potions as if mages of their class level.

In addition to Gnomish, wardens can speak the tongues of Deep Gnome, Endjinn, Morlock, and Kobolds. In addition, gnomes can speak with animals (as the spell) at will.

At 8h level (Warden), the warden may begin to research spells and scribe magical scrolls. Unlike a sorcerer they use their caster level, not class level, for magical research rolls.

A gnomish warden proves their capabilities as a defender of friend and family may build a gnomish burg when they reach 9th level (Gnomish Governor). Gnomes usually live in clans, so gnomes of the character’s clan will be the first to live under their roof, but gnomes from other clans will also come and live nearby to be ruled by the character. A total of 3d6x10 1st level NPCs gnomes will move in to help maintain and defend the vault at no cost to the character. A gnomish warden is expected to employ only soldiers of gnomish descent, but may hire members of other races for other tasks.

Gnomish Warden Proficiency List (30): Acrobatics, Alertness, Ambushing, Armor training, Beast Friendship, Blind Fighting, Caving, Combat Reflexes, Combat Trickery (Disarm, Incapacitate), Command, Engineering, Familiar, Fighting Style, Gambling, Land Surveying, Leadership, Magical Engineering, Mapping, Mountaineering, Precise Shooting, Prestidigitation, Sensing Power, Siege Engineering, Skirmishing, Sniping, Swashbuckling, Unflappable Casting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus.
Class proficiencies at: 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th.
General proficiencies at: 1st, 5th, 9th.

Troubleshooter Template: This pre-generated template represents a troubleshooter who is ready for anything. The template is ready for adventure. However, if your troubleshooter's INT is 13 or greater, you gain additional spells in your repertoire and may pick one or more additional general proficiencies before play if you’d like (see Starting Proficiencies in Chapter 4 of ACKS). The craft proficiency that each gnome begins with is noted in italics. Additionally an advanced template ready for play at adventurer level play (6,000XP and 4,000gp) is listed below it.

Template: Troubleshooter
Proficiencies: Combat reflexes, Caving, Craft (blacksmithing)
Starting Equipment: Crossbow, case with 20 bolts, war hammer with carved head, boot holstered dagger, steel shield painted with clan emblem, chain mail armor, military cloak, wool tunic and pants, leather belt, low boots, backpack, hand mirror, 50' rope, tinder box, 6 torches, small hammer, 12 iron spikes, flask of military oil, 1 weeks’ iron rations, canteen of water, 12gp. (8 st., Move 60’/20’)

Template: Veteran Troubleshooter
Proficiencies: Combat reflexes, Caving, Precise Shooting, Craft (blacksmithing)
Starting Equipment: Bronze-framed spellbook with magic missile and detect magic, masterwork crossbow (+1 to hit), case with 20 bolts, masterwork war hammer with carved head (+1 to hit), boot holstered dagger, masterwork steel shield painted with clan emblem (1 item), masterwork chain mail armor (+1 AC), military cloak, wool tunic and pants, leather belt, low boots, backpack, hand mirror, 50' rope, tinder box, 6 torches, small hammer, 12 iron spikes, flask of military oil, 1 weeks’ iron rations, canteen of water, 102gp, 3,000 gp magic item chance (p.259 of ACKS). (7 2/6 st., Move 60’/20’)

Gnomish Warden Level Progression & Spell progression

Exp.	Title	Level	Hit Dice	Dmg. Bonus	Spell Lvl.1	Spell Lvl.2	Spell Lvl.3	Spell Lvl.4	Caster Level
0	Sentry	1	1d6	+1	-	-	-	-	-
2,875	Guard	2	2d6	+1	1	-	-	-	1
5,750	Watchkeeper	3	3d6	+2	1	-	-	-	1
11,500	Sentinel	4	4d6	+2	2	-	-	-	2
23,000	Guardian	5	5d6	+2	2	-	-	-	2
46,000	Breachgnome	6	6d6	+3	2	1	-	-	3
92,000	Overseer	7	7d6	+3	2	2	-	-	4
184,000	Warden	8	8d6	+3	2	2	1	-	5
319,000	Governor	9	9d6	+4	2	2	2	-	6
454,000	Governor, 10th lvl	10	9d6+2*	+4	3	2	2	-	6
589,000	Governor, 11th lvl	11	9d6+4*	+4	3	2	2	1	7
724,000	Governor, 12th lvl	12	9d6+6*	+5	3	3	2	2	8

* Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored

Warden (Fighter) Attack and Saving Throws

Level	Petrif. &  Paraly.	Poison &  Death	Blast &  Breath	Staffs & Wands	Spells	Attack Throw
1	15+	14+	16+	16+	17+	10+
2-3	14+	13+	15+	15+	16+	9+
4	13+	12+	14+	14+	15+	8+
5-6	12+	11+	13+	13+	14+	7+
7	11+	10+	12+	12+	13+	6+
8-9	10+	9+	11+	11+	12+	5+
10	9+	8+	10+	10+	11+	4+
11-12	8+	7+	9+	9+	10+	3+

Gnomish Warden Notes

Allocations: HP 1, FTR 2 (2 tradeoffs), Gnome 2
Max level: 12
Tradeoff: Armor from Unrestricted to Broad for 1 custom power.
Tradeoff: Weapons from Unrestricted to Broad for 1 custom power.
Powers: Dispel magic once per day as a power.
Powers: Goblin slaying as power. (Spread for 12 cap on all gnomes)
Save: fighter
Magic items: fighter
Prime requisites: must have one fighter, adding one for balance that is the same as a requirement. The additional one is to deliberately slow down gnome advancement. I don’t want STR to be a focus for gnomes ever. CON should be the double up. That leaves DEX as the second.
Post 9 hp: as fighter = 2 per level
XP: 500 + 1000 + 150 + 150 + 1075 = 2875; Post 8 = FTR 120,000 + Gnome 15,000 = 135,000 per level
Notes: This is ultimately a fighter build with a bit of magic on the side. I am level locking all gnomes to 12 and really want to make sure gnome 1 comes through as a minimum to keep the magical flavour in.